Digital three-dimensional object manufacturing, also known as digital additive manufacturing, is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. Three-dimensional object printing is an additive process in which one or more ejector heads eject successive layers of material on a substrate in different shapes. The substrate is supported either on a platform that can be moved three dimensionally by operation of actuators operatively connected to the platform, or the ejector heads are operatively connected to one or more actuators for controlled movement of the ejector heads to produce the layers that form the object. Three-dimensional object printing is distinguishable from traditional object-forming techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material from a work piece by a subtractive process, such as cutting or drilling.
Manufacturing of three-dimensional printed parts at high speed is a significant challenge because many of the processes involved are time consuming and often done manually. In many three-dimensional object printers, support material is used to enable layers of material to be formed where no surface or previously formed portions of a part exist. Particularly, such printers form support portions using a support material, such as wax, and form portions of an object on top or adjacent to the support portions. After the object is formed, the support material is removed from the object. The support material is typically removed by soaking the object in water, jetting water onto the object, soaking the object in other chemicals, or heating the object. However, each of these methods has limitations that are exacerbated with larger printed objects.
As three-dimensional object printers become larger to enable low to mid volume production runs, multiple parts can be stacked in three-dimensions, separated by support material. However, in such production runs, a substantial amount of support material must be removed during post-processing. What is needed is a method for efficient removal of substantial amounts of support material from printed parts in order to increase overall production speeds.